Monday, July 15, 2013

The house that time forgot: Mother and sons keep family home frozen in the 1920s for 70 YEARS with original decoration, food and furniture

  • The suburban semi-detached house at 7 Blyth Grove, Worksop, was the home of the Straw family, who were grocers
  • After William Straw senior died suddenly in 1932, his grief-stricken family decided to leave the house as it was
  • Now owned by the National Trust, it offers a unique glimpse into family life in suburban Britain between the wars
By Harriet Arkell
| 3
Mail Online

When William Straw, a grocer, died suddenly in 1932, his grief-stricken widow and sons decided to leave their house exactly as he knew it.
Decorated in 1923, the redbrick Worksop semi then remained just as it was until the last Straw to live there, Mr Straw's son William junior, died and bequeathed it to the National Trust in 1991.
The rooms are painted in the dark colours fashionable at the time, gilt-framed oil paintings hang from picture rails, and the larder is full of Bovril and tinned sardines.
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The redbrick semi in Worksop offers a fascinating glimpse of suburban family life in Britain between the wars
Glimpse of a more formal age: The redbrick semi in Worksop offers a fascinating glimpse of suburban family life in Britain between the wars
Number 7 Blyth Grove in Worksop still looks just as it did in 1923 when the Straw family decorated it
National Trust propertyi: Number 7 Blyth Grove in Worksop still looks just as it did in 1923 when the Straw family decorated it
The larder reflecs the palate of a different age: tinned new potatoes, tinned sardines, and jars and jars of Bovril
Tinned herrings, anyone? The larder reflects the palate of a different age: tinned new potatoes, tinned sardines, and jars and jars of Bovril
Owned by the National Trust since the family of grocers who lived there passed it on, it is one of the Trust's more unusual properties, and all the more fascinating for it.
There are no expensive treasures or rare antiques; instead the house, known as Mr Straw's House, offers an authentic glimpse into how an ordinary British family lived a century ago.
Built in 1905, it was the home of the Straws, a grocer family headed by William Straw senior and his wife, Florence.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2361731/The-house-time-forgot-Red-brick-semi-frozen-1920s-original-decoration-food-furniture-untouched-90-YEARS.html#ixzz2Z9NkMuOc
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